Dropouts in Upper Primary and Secondary School
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Dropouts in Upper Primary andf Secondary School Ankit Joshi Ankita Mitra Divya Suyal Pankaj Yadav Sakshi Bhardwaj Shubham Kalra PREFACE: This is a group work for Krishna Raj Fellowship Programme by six M.A. Economics students from Delhi School of Economics – Ankit Joshi, Ankita Mitra, Divya Suyal, Pankaj Yadav, Sakshi Bhardwaj and Shubham Kalra. Based on our research objective we have selected 4 slums and 4 lower middle class societies in Delhi as our study area. We selected the lower middle class areas based on F and G tax category. We have tried to find out the causes behind dropouts in upper primary and secondary education in Delhi. Page | 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This is to express our deep and profound gratitude to EPW Foundation and Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics for giving us an opportunity to undertake a field work during summer break. We have done our research work under the supervision of Dr. Ashwini Deshpande, Professor, the Department of Economics, Delhi school of Economics. The work would have been impossible without the guidance and supervision of one of the finest professors of Delhi School of Economics. We would like to pay our gratitude to Ashwini ma’am for guiding us. Special thanks go to our family and friends who have greatly supported and encouraged us while doing this research work. Page | 2 Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................5 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 Socio economic background of dropout students………………………………………………………………………………….10 Profile of dropout students……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13 Reasons for dropout………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………15 What are children doing after dropping out? .................................................................................... 20 School Environment……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...21 Way forward and recommendations……………………………………………………………………………………………………..25 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….26 Page | 3 ABSTRACT: Albeit world program for education for all and the enactment of right of children to free and compulsory education (RTE) in India, many children still today are out of schools due to one or more reasons and discontinuation of education has been a common phenomenon in every corner of the country. Although RTE ensure compulsory education but it has not taken into account the socio economic factors causing school dropouts. In spite of laying down norms and standards of pupil teacher ratio, infrastructure, teaching hours etc. RTE has not taken enough steps to implement these parameters properly. So the motivation for conducting this field based research lies in finding reasons for dropping out of school in spite of the steps taken by the government to implement RTE. Also the project seeks to explore the factors explaining dropout rate specific to Delhi. The paper also recommends necessary steps which could be implemented to ensure that every enrolled student completes school education. The analysis is based on field research undertaken in 4 slums and 4 LMCS of Delhi during the nd th period from 22 May 2013 to 8 July 2013. Page | 4 INTRODUCTION: Dropout rates have been high in India since long. Delhi has been witnessing a massive dropout of school going children. According to data provided by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, for 2009-10, the dropout rate for children studying in Classes I to X was 2.0, however, for 2010-2011, this has increased to 22.9, a jump of more than 20 percentage points. The dropout rate for the nation has however declined for classes 1 to 10. Reducing dropouts is a crucial factor in order to reduce poverty in India and achieve greater socio economic equality. High number of dropouts usually indicates failure on the part of the Government to provide quality education to the masses. But this statement should have seemed appropriate perhaps in the bygone decade. In the light of the Right to Education Act (RTE) , the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, the main vehicle to implement RTE and schemes like mid day meals, it seems puzzling to think why should there be any dropouts at all. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan(SSA), a flagship programme of the central government for achieving universalization of elementary education in a time-bound manner has been in operation since 2001. But since its inception it has been grappling with increasing dropouts. st Right to free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education with effect from 1 th April 2010 under Article 21 A inserted by the 86 Amendment of the Constitution seeks to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age group six to fourteen years as a fundamental right in such a manner as the state may by law determine. A major rationale behind the implementation of the Right to Education Act has been to check the dropout rate. Presently, the dropout rate for children studying between Classes I to V in the national capital decreased, in line with the overall trend in the country, from 13.3 in 2009-10 to 5.9 in the 2010-11, however although dropout rates have declined post implementation of the RTE, present dropout rate in the capital for classes 1 to 10 is still alarming. The Ministry of Human Resource and development claims that the number of out of school children in the 6-14 age group has come down to 3 million in 2012 from 8 million in 2010. However in order to achieve the millennium development goals by 2015 which speaks of universal primary education, it is important to focus on the reasons behind the dropouts especially given the fact RTE caters to the need of every student by providing for free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education, laying down norms and standards for pupil teacher ratios, insisting on proper infrastructure, teacher working hours, appointment of trained teachers and so on. The new policies of the Government have undoubtedly increased the enrolment ratios but have failed to retain children in schools indicating large dropouts. This somehow point in Page | 5 the direction of the literature on wastage, in other words wastage of funds of the Government in infrastructure, textbooks, uniforms, meals etc. It is true it has been just 3 years post RTE and perhaps it is too early to do an impact evaluation of the Act but certainly it has not been able to achieve what it promised. The need of the hour is to look closer at the socio economic factors leading to dropouts. Our project seeks to examine the socio economic reasons behind dropouts in the lower middle class and slum areas in Delhi. Through the project a conscious effort has been made to understand at the micro level the mindset of the children and their parents in dropping out of school in spite of all facilities being provided by the Government that they could ever desire of. For the purpose of this study, dropouts are defined as children, who enroll in upper primary and secondary education and for some reason other than death leaves school before completing the grade without transferring to another school. LITERATURE REVIEW: In Dipa Mukherjee’s paper titled, “Reducing out of school children in India”, there has been an attempt to explore trends in school dropouts and reasons behind leaving schools. The author has identified low level income of families and earning opportunities for children as a major factor contributing to out of school children. Other reasons also indicate lack of awareness on the part of parents. The paper recommends change of operation of SSA from infrastructure based approach to facilitating approach. The paper also focuses on gender and regional differences and stresses that poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth must go hand in hand with education expansion programs. In the paper by Sunita Chugh titled, “Dropout in Secondary Education: A study of Children living in Slums of Delhi”, both family and school factors are highly correlated with each other and contribute to dropouts. Apart from poverty and financial constraints, the paper identifies a need for needs based approach in delivering education. The paper points out the need to adopt a holistic approach and not a broad based approach in delivering quality education without reference to the broader socio economic setting. The paper focuses on preventive and restorative approaches to be used to tackle problem of dropouts. Some of the major reasons identified are to look after younger siblings, disputes within the family, lack of time for studies at home, no need of education for employment. No need of education for girls, insecurity of the child, fear of rape, sickness of the child or family, lack of interest in studies, poor comprehension or academic performance, no effective teaching in school and medium of instruction. Some of the ways to retain children in school could be to make course structure in school for student friendly, students could be given scholarships or stipends to incentivise them, to address issue of poor comprehension, Page | 6 schools could address the issue of organising bridge courses during summer breaks or after school to help students cope up. Skill oriented curriculum need to be introduced. Finally readmission for dropouts must not be a difficult process. In the paper